Coffee 3/50

Coffee consumption ...

... per capita is the highest in Finland! And that has been the way for decades. The nobility in Finland started to drink coffee in 18th century (1700 ->, when Finland was under Swedish rule). Lower class people started the coffee consumption in 19th century (1800 ->, under Russian rule).

Finnish coffee consumption is almost ridiculous and the subject of jokes. There are many strange cultural phenomenon affiliated with coffee. Some collective labor agreements may regulate that the worker must have right for 15 minute coffee break(s) besides the normal lunch break. It means that the work places even have to offer the specific coffee rooms for that. If something can get Finns on barricades, it is the right to have coffee, coffee breaks and space for it.

Coffee is also the must have beverage in somewhat all festive occasions from cradle to grave. When a child get the name, a teen get graduated, a couple get married, or when someone achieves somewhat anything remarkable like wins a medal is sports, there is then coffee served for the guests. According to some statistics the Finnish coffee consumption is even 12 kg per capita per year! But in any case it is somewhere around 10kg. Coffee can be bought almost in every corner. I recon there are even more coffee selling shops, cafes, restaurants and coffee machines than there are pubs. Especially because one can by coffee also in pubs.

Personally 2-4 dl filter coffee per day is enough for me. But I must have at least one cup of it per day! I got a tonsillectomy done at rather old age, and at that time I tried to get rid of the coffee. I discovered that I am coffee addict and had terrible withdrawal symptoms for weeks! And after getting over that, I realized that my overall state of vitality was much lower than it was when I used coffee. So, after few months I again end up drinking coffee on daily bases.

➽ Finnish coffee culture is one-of-a-kind, by Jori Korhonen